MotoGP riders are strongly opposed to the championship’s plan to fine them if they fail to meet minimum attendance requirements at fan events during grand prix weekends.
MotoGP informed teams on Saturday at the Indonesian Grand Prix that riders would face a fine of €5,000 if they do not spend a minimum amount of time at promotional events, as first reported by Motorsport.com.
One such event is the Hero Walk, held on Sunday morning, where riders spend 20 minutes taking photos with fans and signing autographs. The event at Mandalika on Sunday, held under a scorching sun in temperatures exceeding 30C, already saw several notable absentees, who are expected to face the first fines under the new rules.
Under the new initiative, riders who fail to meet the minimum attendance requirement – 10 minutes at the Hero Walk – will be fined. The penalties will increase for repeat offences and could eventually lead to sporting sanctions, including grid penalties or points deductions in the championship standings.
“I don’t want to give my opinion on this subject; I don’t want to get into trouble. If you were a rider, would you be for or against it?” asked Fabio Quartararo, one of the paddock’s leading figures, who has more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram.
“I’m not in agreement with this. In a situation like this, the championship doesn’t know what condition a rider is in. For example, I agree with Marc Marquez not attending the karting race in Japan, where he sent a stand-in, because he is fighting for something much bigger,” Pedro Acosta told Motorsport.com.
“I understand that sometimes you arrive at an event and leave quickly, and I understand why that annoys people. But if someone has crashed and has to choose between recovering and signing autographs, they are going to recover. I understand that we need to do more, because generally we have all been falling a little short, but they need to understand each rider’s situation.
“We need to find a middle ground. You can’t take championship points or grid positions away from someone for missing an event. That’s ridiculous,” added the KTM rider.
Although Marquez skipped a karting event a week earlier, sending a body double in his place, the championship had been monitoring the situation for several weeks. His absence was therefore not the trigger for the new initiative.
“Riders are the first ones who want the sport to grow,” Marc Marquez explained when asked for his opinion by Motorsport.com. “But from my point of view, there are other ways for the championship to grow without putting so much pressure on riders and making so many demands of them.
“We have to make huge physical efforts, and not just during the race weekend. These are specific occasions, not something that happens at every grand prix. Here, for example, you finish warm-up, it’s very hot, you come out of a quick meeting and then have to go to the parade, spending 20 minutes under the sun.
MotoGP riders in Mandalika
Photo by: MotoGP
“Our intention is to help the sport grow, but there have to be limits. Obviously, we don’t make the decisions, so we adapt,” added the Ducati rider.
“It’s a pretty difficult situation. If you skip the Hero Walk today or fail to stay for 10 minutes, it’s €5,000. That’s tough,” said Alex Marquez of Gresini.
“I think they are pushing riders to their limits. We have more and more races and more and more events, and we’re running out of energy. We’re now in the part of the season when we have races in very hot conditions, which are extremely demanding.
“It’s as if they don’t really care about the riders’ perspective. They should try to understand our side a little more. Today, we spent 45 minutes at 190 beats per minute, and they don’t understand that,” the Spaniard added.
Enea Bastianini had not yet been informed by his team about the new regulations when he spoke after Sunday’s race.
“To be honest, nobody has told me anything,” the Italian said. “But if they’re going to introduce fines of €5,000, we might as well go to the events,” he joked.
“Given how things are developing, it would be interesting to set something up,” he added, referring to the possibility of forming a riders’ association along the lines of the one in Formula 1.
Although Alex Rins is approaching the end of his MotoGP career and is unlikely to be affected by the new rules for much longer, the Yamaha rider also questioned the approach.
“It’s too much. After races like this, you just have to see what state we’re in – we’re completely exhausted. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these activities with the fans, but there needs to be some consideration for the riders.
“It’s clear that the fans are there for us, and we make our living thanks to them, so we have to be grateful. But these activities need to be organised differently, perhaps in a covered venue,” Rins suggested.
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